George Clooney: Sudan could become a second SyriaGeorge Clooney and John Prendergast

The last two times the Sudan government perpetrated horrific attacks against civilian populations in the disputed territory of Abyei, a Connecticut-sized political football contested by both Sudan and South Sudan, we visited with the survivors after the fact. The main town was burned, villages were razed, and over 120,000 residents were displaced after their homes were destroyed. In our trips there, we interviewed dozens of survivors, whose chilling accounts of targeted killings and destruction continue to haunt us.

Abyei is at the center of whether Sudan and South Sudan will resume one of the deadliest wars in the world, which took more than two million lives between 1983 and 2005. Feeling abandoned by the world and following the passing of a deadline that the African Union proposed for holding an internationally supervised referendum to determine Abyei's future, its residents have taken matters into their own hands. They are holding their own referendum this week, sparking speculation that the Khartoum regime may in response again unleash Arab Misseriya militias living north of Abyei. Despite peace agreements in part brokered by the United States, arbitration decisions, and international commissions that have acknowledged that Abyei is the traditional homeland of the "nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms," the Government of Sudan has continuously obstructed progress toward the holding of a representative vote.

Promoting some kind of showdown between the local Dinka and Misseriya communities – despite a long history of peaceful interdependence – is right out of Khartoum's divide-and-conquer playbook, pitting neighbors against each other throughout Sudan since the regime took power in a military coup in 1989.

Instead of recognizing and confronting the Sudan government's divisive and deadly strategy, the United States and broader international community have prioritized a neutral approach to promoting peace between Sudan and South Sudan as well as within war-torn Sudan. For all the difficult questions, such as the status of Abyei or free and fair elections for Sudan, the internationals have kicked the relevant cans down the field, hoping that time will heal the biggest wounds. But the wounds are growing more infected, unfortunately, and there is nowhere else to kick the cans.

In Abyei, a traumatized population has rushed back to vote in the unsanctioned poll. The South Sudanese organization Kush estimates that nearly 40 percent of Dinka civilians in Abyei are suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and many residents feel they have nothing left to lose after devastating setbacks in the previous attacks. But Abyei is only the tip of the iceberg.

In Sudan's western region of Darfur, violence has again spiked, with hundreds of thousands of people driven into camps since the beginning of the year. The regime is utilizing its same divide-and-conquer strategy to give the appearance of worsening "tribal" conflicts while it is consolidating control over the conflict gold trade in Darfur's expanding mines.

In the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile regions of Sudan, government offensives have driven hundreds of thousands of villagers from their homes. We visited caves where people hide from the indiscriminate aerial bombardment. The government blocks all humanitarian aid, using the denial of food as its principal vehicle for ethnically cleansing populations on the basis of their identity.

In Khartoum and other major Sudanese cities during the last month, the government killed over 200 protesters by firing into crowds with live ammunition. It has arrested nearly a thousand young activists, many of them tortured and held incommunicado without charge.

American and broader International impartiality have failed to slow the pace of death and displacement. Yes, Sudan and South Sudan have not gone back to war against each other. But the escalating violence in Sudan and human rights issues in South Sudan demand a new approach.

Abyei's peace can be secured only by honoring the multiple agreements allowing the residents to vote their future. The African Union – backed by the United States and the UN Security Council – needs to take a strong stand in support of its own proposal, and come up with a rapid timeline for determining voter eligibility and holding the referendum. More broadly, the United States and other countries need to place democracy and human rights at the center of their policies towards Sudan and South Sudan. This would most urgently involve providing direct support to Sudan's beleaguered civil society and opposition and demanding the creation of one comprehensive peace process that deals with all of the conflicts currently ripping Sudan apart.

Sudan is becoming Syria in slow motion. Millions of lives depend on whether that dangerous trend can be reversed.

George Clooney, co-founder of Not On Our Watch, and John Prendergast, co-founder of the Enough Project, together head the Satellite Sentinel Project.

Thanks SG, really sad that you hear all that but nothing can be done. If they would have oil like Iraq they would get much more attention to fix things. You can really see that Sudan is not important enough to action. So sad....

Er, Nicky, they do have oil, and it's very much part of the problem. It's in Abyei on the borders of North and South Sudan and is now part of the 'conversation' between the two countries. China has got involved there too with drilling rights, and reportedly exchanged tanks and guns to the government in the North for access before South Sudan's independence.

party animal - not! wrote:Er, Nicky, they do have oil, and it's very much part of the problem. It's in Abyei on the borders of North and South Sudan and is now part of the 'conversation' between the two countries. China has got involved there too with drilling rights, and reportedly exchanged tanks and guns to the government in the North for access before South Sudan's independence.

You are so right PAN and Bashir uses the oil to threaten the people with, turning it on and off. Between the oil and gold mines there is much to fuel the regimen to kill off their own. That's one reason George wants to help them to go back to farming coffee beans. Maybe less criminal activity with that.

Sorry yes I knew they have oil but what I meant when I compared it with Iraq was because of the amount of oil. The Iraq and Iran are in the top 10 of oil-producing countries while Sudan is nr 52 last time I checked but that was a list of 2009. So what I meant to say is if they would produce much more oil like Iran for example the world attention would be much greater for Sudan.

chiki wrote:Thanks for the links, I've read it this morning. I can't understand why Reuters is working with teenagers,war brings worst of us!

On this link, an american blogger/writer talks about this.[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Chiki thanks for all your informational articles and up dates. This is some story about Molhem. Another shining star just snuffed like he was of little importance. But every single one of these lives being tossed away are truly important. I must post his picture here.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]